Sir Macaroni & Brada Boy

The Savory Delights, Fender, and Frankie & Grace were all adopted in December.  After a LONG hiatus due to my move, it was great to have so many different litters of kittens at once and a little bit of a shock to have no fosters for nearly a month.  The rescue asked me if I would be interested in taking in some fosters from Hawaii. I had no idea what was happening but my answer to "do you want kittens" is ALWAYS YES.

https://kauaihumane.org/service/transfer-program/ 

KHS has a transfer program to get some of the many adoptable animals off the small island to the mainland's larger variety of potential homes. One of our fosters discovered this when they visited Hawaii and organized 10 kittens to be transferred to my rescue. They get sent in pairs, and I got one of the sibling pairs.  One pair went to another foster and the other 6 all went to the foster who organized the transfer. 

On our way to pick up the kittens, we got a bit delayed due to this small fire on the exit ramp.  I was getting ready to call 911 when we saw the fire trucks zooming up. 

We got Brada Boy and Sir Macaroni, two 5 month old kittens.  I found out later that they had other siblings- I only got a picture of 2 of them, but I guess there were 4 in the litter that looked a lot like Brada

We let the foster know when we were coming so she caught them and got them ready for us before we arrived, so I didn't get to see them until we got them home.  She said Sir Macaroni had the zoomies and Brada Boy was shy. BB also had a limp so we said we'd keep an eye on it.  I was surprised when Brada was the first one to pop out of the carrier as soon as we opened  it. He came out immediately, but cautiously.  When Sir Macaroni came out, I was surprised to see his speckled coat! I've never seen markings like that on a cat before!
*I've been trying to edit the videos to make a little montage here, but every time I open my video editing program on my PC it crashes within 2 minutes.  I have currently given up with videos... but my tablet is updating so maybe the program there will work later...

Brada definitely favored his front left foot at rest- always holding it up.  But he walked without a limp and didn't seem to ever favor it when moving around.  After a few days, he stopped holding it so gingerly, so we're pretty sure he just strained it during his long journey.  Due to airline logistics, the kittens went from Hawaii to Seattle- stayed overnight with a foster there before being flown to San Jose to be picked up and driven to Sacramento.

Macaroni was pretty bold and a complete toy hog.  I lured him into my lap with a whippy feather wand toy which he repeatedly tried to steal while growling.  He did manage to snag it several times, but mostly he just did flips and pounces to catch it.  At first, he'd startle if I tried to pet him, but when he got *some* of his energy out, I discovered his insta-purr mode.  A good 20 minutes of play time puts him in a happy mood- if I stop swinging the feather wand around and pet him, his motor activates and he'll happily push into your hand for pets. He's currently a very active attention seeker- walking back and forth, pushing in, but never really laying down for a relaxed cuddle.  He will suddenly flop, purr, push his head into your hand, then he's back on his feet, rubbing against you for a purr on his other side.   That first night, when I started passing out and stopped waving around the toy or giving him active pets with both hands, he became very insistent that I continue.  I wish I had caught his look of disbelief when I informed him that I HAD to go to bed... it very clearly said "look lady, I traveled 48 hours to see you, most of it in a tiny crate with my brother... I have NEEDS and you have TWO HANDS... One is for petting me and the other is for wagging that toy in my face... LET'S GO!"

I didn't interact very much with Brada the first night.  They did eat some of the treat I offered, but neither of them were very food motivated.  Brada tried to play a little, but Macaroni kept jumping over him and pushing him out of the way, so he mostly stayed at the far reach of the toy, hoping to get a swat in while Macaroni was sliding on the other side of me before Macaroni caught his feet and managed to leap back over to his side.  The next morning, the other fosters reported that their kittens found their hunger (none of them were terribly hungry the night they arrived) and were eating ravenously, but mine still weren't that interested in food.  But by the end of their first weekend, Sir Macaroni became fascinated with the sounds of animals on the other side of the door and he spent mot of his time stalking the door.  That gave Brada a chance to get closer to me without his brother landing on his head.  I discovered that Brada liked to play and could be lured into my lap with the feather toys, but once there, he loved to be pet, particularly under his chin and on his cheek.  Brada would roll around, show me his belly, and relax in my lap as long as I kept petting him the way he likes to be pet.  Over the next several days, while Macaroni stalked the door, Brada began climbing into my lap even when I didn't have toys.

They came with all their vaccinations, microchip, and had been neutered.  We decided to quarantine them for a week so they could adjust to the larger variety of bugs on the mainland while also adjusting to the new climate, but my boys could NOT WAIT to get out of the room and meet the other furbabies.  They're not sure about Miyuki the dog, though they don't run from her... but they're very interested in my cats.  We started with Katsu, our most chill cat and Brada followed her around the room.  But they easily met my other friendly cats.

They're getting used to the whole house and have not had a single accident.  Neither of them seem to respond to their names. It could be because I have a difficult time with their names.  When they told me the names (a few days before they arrived) I thought Sir Macaroni was cute but felt "meh" about Brada Boy.  But now Brada comes out of my mouth more naturally and I have to think about Macaroni's name every time I try to call him or talk to him... mostly I've been shortening it to "Macs", but it doesn't seem to suit him either.  I'm not sure if we're allowed to change them for the very short time we have them before they go up for adoption, so I've been trying to get used to the names, but I'm sure it sounds forced when I use their names instead of just talking to "my handsome boy" or "sweetums kitty kitty" and other terms of endearment I use generically for all cats.   They do both come running if I start playing with the feather wands with the bells on them.  But I've discovered that Macs will basically play with anything. I think they're enjoying their new freedom, though I get less cuddle time with Brada on the bed. He prefers it when I'm sitting up and have a lap. 

1/30/23 Update

These shy boys are learning how wonderful it is to be part of an ohana (family).  Today when I got off work, it took me longer than usual to come upstairs.  When I finally began to head up I found them both coming down to greet me.  As I was sitting at my computer working on their collage pictures, Sir Macaroni surprised me with a few very high pitched mews at my feet.  Until today, I think I've only heard Brada Boy talk to me- and he also has a very tiny mew so I assumed it was him until I looked down to see a black streak weaving in and out of my chair legs. He did the little "roo" move, jumping up with his front paws to meet my hand as I reached down, purring instantly, then rolled up happily in my lap when I picked him up.  He was belly up until slightly startled when I finally got my husband's attention to attempt a stealth photo... we were caught, but though he spun around, he wouldn't move.  

When I finally regained used of my hands I finished up the collages and began working on this update and their bios when Brada Boy gave me his tiny mew while leaping onto my computer desk.  He just wanted to supervise that I was doing quality work!

Couldn't resist adding my favorite character in their collages!

Update 2/3/23
I spent several hours attempting to get my video editing program to work on my PC and my tablet, but failed... so no video compilation... so you get more long, unedited videos instead of a highlight reel.

The tricky thing about taking in these Hawaiian kittens is there was very little time to get to know them before writing a bio!!  I got them on Friday 1/20/23 and their bios were due on 1/31/23 for their adoption day on 2/4/23. Most of the Hawaiian kittens were pretty social from the beginning, but Brada and Macaroni were a little more skittish.  They had just started trusting me when I had to submit their bios.

Because they're cats, as soon as I hit "SEND" on the email with their bios, they decided they loved me and wanted my attention nearly full time.  In fact, I took this Macaroni video approximately 5 second after I sent the bio.  That day was the first time he meowed at me at and came to me for attention (usually I had to tempt him to me with feather wands swishing), but now this is a major part of his daily routine- he follows me around begging for attention!

Meanwhile, Brada prefers to creep up on me.  Whenever I'm sitting somewhere, he likes to slide over and lean up against me until I notice he's there.  When I start petting him, he'll purr and roll over to show me his belly.  He's so polite.

Macaroni is a toy hog. The whippy wire fish wand is his favorite, but he also loves any feather wand or toy that you wave around.  He is a TOY HOG! Once he has it in his mouth he'll growl (though he never attacks) and try to run off with it.  The other day he ran off with one feather wand so I tried to play with the other cats with another toy wand... but Macaroni wanted BOTH!

Brada loves to play too, but usually Macaroni steals his toys.  That might be why he found and dragged this fish hat toy to me- all the way from the kitten room, down the hall, and up onto the bed.  He purred while I put it on him and seemed to love playing with it!  I think I laughed for over half an hour that night. 

I need to stop blogging and start loving these babies. It's their last night with me and Macaroni is telling me he'd rather spend time with me.  I tried to tell him I'm hoping these videos and stories help him find a good home, but he doesn't care. He thinks if I am not petting him with both hands, then he gets only half of LOVE which is LO (Sad Cat Diary, ZeFrank....if you haven't watched it, you should!).